Legal actions mount after Jacksonville Landing mass shooting

Dan Scanlan @scanlan_dan

Friday

Nov 23, 2018 at 2:30 PMNov 23, 2018 at 6:39 PM

Ten lawsuits now have been filed against The Jacksonville Landing, its owners and others in the wake of the Aug. 26 shooting at the riverfront facility that left two dead and others wounded. Nine actions alone were filed Nov. 10 in Duval County Circuit Court.

Coming about two weeks shy of the 3-month anniversary of the shooting that left "Madden NFL 19" qualifying tournament competitors Taylor Robertson and Elijah Clayton dead inside Chicago Pizza, one of the latest is a wrongful death suit from Robertson's widow, while eight others seek damages for personal injury or negligence, according to the filings.

All ask for financial damages from The Jacksonville Landing and its owners as well as Entertainment Arts, which licensed the video game being played there. Many of the suits take issue with the Landing and incidents in its past leading up to the shooting.

Holly Robertson's Nov. 10 suit says, in part, that Entertainment Arts should have known that there had been "a number of serious criminal incidents" at the Landing, "including crimes of violence and murder." She asked for damages and lost wages from her late husband. Competitor Douglas Thiel's personal injury suit, as well as eight others filed the same day, carry basically the same claims as written by attorneys at the Morgan and Morgan law offices, who filed them.

All say the Landing has become "a hub of dangerous, violent and too often, deadly activity."

Recent examples included an August 2012 series of fights in another Landing bar that ended with a patron run over and killed outside the site, as well as a January 2017 shooting in front of the facility that left one teen dead.

"There have been numerous serious incidents with the last several years at The Landing, and little has been done to curb the violence," many of the suits state.

Baltimore gamer David Katz, 24, shot up the "Madden NFL 19" qualifying tournament at the Good Luck Have Fun game bar inside Chicago Pizza. He had lost the day before, and killed rival gamers Robertson and Clayton, and wounded 10 others before killing himself. Dozens of other gamers as well as fans packed into the game bar fled in panic.

Four days after the shooting, 23-year-old Jacob Mitich filed the first negligence suit via the Morgan and Morgan's law office, naming the Landing, Chicago Pizza and owner Cliff Comastro, plus Landing owner Sleiman Enterprises and Electronic Arts Inc., which makes the popular Madden NFL video game. Mitich had been winning his round when the Katz opened fire. He was hit twice by gunfire and survived.

Mitich's suit, as well as others filed by Morgan and Morgan, includes claims against Entertainment Arts, saying there is no one in its game management structure who ensures the safety of contestants it invites to those games. The suit also claims no one from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office or city was notified in advance of the competition.

"In the aftermath of the shooting, a Jacksonville Sheriff officer shared with Plaintiff that ... had they been (told), they would have required a minimum of two armed officers providing security," according to the lawsuit.

The other suits have been filed by Christopher McFarland, Darren Hojjati, Christian Lomenzo, Dennis Alton, Sandro Aguayo, Kiana Chambers and Vincent Young. Those suits, also filed Nov. 10 by Morgan and Morgan attorneys, claim emotional or physical trauma from the shooting.

Just days after the shooting, city fire inspectors cited Chicago Pizza for operating an unapproved gaming room, saying that area was not part of a city-approved floor plan and not being permitted to hold the video game tournament, according to its fire code violation report. The site was closed down after the fire marshal also cited other issues like extension cords used “as a substitute for permanent wiring,” plus video game consoles and other items that blocked exits.

Chicago Pizza reopened in early October, six weeks after the shooting, the game bar remaining shut as it awaits approval from city regulators on planned changes. Its Facebook posting from a few week's ago stated the game bar “will be undergoing a revival of sorts over the coming weeks” as it will be rebuilt “from the ground up.”

Dan Scanlan: (904) 359-4549

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